Church of St Michael and All Angels and wall, gate and gate piers

Church of St Michael and All Angels and wall, gate and gate piers

The Church of St Michael and All Angels was built in the mid-19th century and is constructed of squared limestone rubble laid to courses with ashlar stone dressings and a slate-clad roof. The church consists of a nave, north and south aisles, a west turret and porch, and an east chancel flanked by a Lady Chapel and priest's vestry on the south, and an organ chamber and choir vestry on the north.

Exterior

The irregular west front is dominated by a three-stage turret in place of a tower. The broached, square first stage has a stone plinth and is lit on the west and north sides by a trefoil-headed lancet window in a blocked surround. The octagonal second stage has, on alternate sides, gabled projections with foliate capitals at the feet and rounded, almost trefoil-shaped crosses at the apex, lit by trefoil-headed lancet windows. The third stage has two stone bands and a round shaft on each angle which rises to a moulded trefoil arch, surmounted by a gable with the same embellishment already described. The alternate faces are pierced by trefoil-headed belfry windows, and the spire has lucarnes and a weather vane.

Attached to the right (south) side of the tower is an open two-bay porch which has a parapet decorated with trefoils and a tall pinnacle in the form of an octagonal spire. This has two bands of continuous gables embellished at the apex and feet in the same manner as those on the turret. The pointed arches have a deep chamfer and four alternate round and hollow mouldings, and capitals carved with naturalistic foliage. The central pier is composed of four shafts of red sandstone, supported by a moulded base in the form of a quatrefoil on plan, whilst the outer piers have one shaft. The right return of the porch has a similar arch. The double-leaf door of vertical planks has a pointed arch moulded surround, and there is a smaller door on the left with a shouldered arch surround which gives access to the turret. The large west window has a moulded surround with foliate headstops and geometrical tracery consisting of three trefoil-headed lights with three sexfoils in the window head.

The four-bay nave has a steeply pitched roof, surmounted with crosses at the gable ends, and is lit by a clerestory of small windows with alternate trefoils and cinquefoils set in approximately circular, polygonal surrounds. The aisles have a single pitch roof and are divided into four bays by buttresses with offsets. The west end of both aisles has an angle buttress with offsets and is lit by a window with geometrical tracery consisting of two trefoil-headed lights and a trefoil in the window head, set in a moulded surround with foliate headstops. The aisle windows have plate tracery with two trefoil-headed lights and a trefoil in the window head, set in blocked surrounds devoid of any mouldings.

At the east end of the south aisle is a gabled projection with buttresses which houses the Lady Chapel. It is lit by a window with geometrical tracery consisting of three trefoil-headed lights with a sexfoil flanked by long-lobed trefoils in the window head, set in a moulded surround with foliate capitals. The gable head is pierced by a small oval window with a headstop. Following this is a small projection under a single pitch roof which houses the vestry. The north aisle has a similar gabled projection for the organ chamber, and the east end is lit by a window in the same style as those on the long aisle elevations.

The east end has a large window with geometric tracery consisting of three trefoil-headed lights with three circles in the window head, each containing six alternating round-lobed and long-lobed trefoils. It is set in a moulded surround with foliate headstops and has a moulded sill band. To the right (south) is a five-sided apse which is lit on all sides by lancet windows in blocked surrounds devoid of mouldings. The bell hanging between the roofs of the chancel and Lady Chapel is a memorial to Canon Jordan (1916-29), but was originally hung in the old Louth prison and dates from 1715.

Interior

The polychromatic brickwork and dark timber roof trusses set against white ceilings impart an intensity and richness of colour to the interior which is faced predominantly in red brick laid in English bond. The four-bay nave has wide arches with soffits of alternate brick and stone bands, and surrounds of red, buff and black bricks (which are red bricks dipped in black paint). The arches are supported by round piers of reddish stone which have circular moulded bases on square plinths and octagonal capitals embellished with naturalistic carving of different kinds of foliage, including that of the chestnut tree and apple tree. Above the arcade, the clerestory windows are deeply recessed within arched openings. There are stone bands at sill and impost level, and between these is a band of dark green tiles with biblical quotations in an elaborate white font. The nave has a common rafter roof with collared principal trusses which are supported by moulded stone corbels and have spandrels pierced with a trefoil. The aisles have similarly closely spaced rafters and a single purlin. Both the nave and the aisles have a dentilled brick cornice. The aisle windows are deeply recessed within wide arched openings which have a surround of alternate stone and bricks, and a stone sill band. The windows are filled with stained glass dating to 1902. The east ends of the aisles are separated from the chancel by a group of three arches edged with black brick, supported on slender stone piers.

The west entrance opens into a porch with a timber screen consisting of wide double-leaf panelled doors, the arched upper panels with leaded lights, and a row of shorter arched windows above. The doors are flanked by carved figures under canopies, either side of which are wide arched openings with trefoils in the spandrels. The floor at the west end of the nave has been laid with coloured tiles in a geometric pattern.

At the east end of the nave, two steps lead up to the large chancel. The chancel arch has the same polychromatic brickwork as the arcade with the addition of a moulded hoodmould and a moulded inner arch supported on marble shafts. The chancel screen, added by Reginald Fowler in 1894, has a marble plinth with attached shafts and a stone frieze of carved foliage. This supports the delicate timber screen which has three crocketed arches with pierced tracery, surmounted by a cross and angels. The chancel has a common rafter roof, and, like the nave, a dentilled cornice, stone banding and a band of tiles bearing inscriptions. The altar stands on two steps, behind which on a further step is the triple timber sedilia which has shaped elbows embellished with carved beasts and angels, and a stone canopy formed of crocketed pointed arches with inner trefoil heads, resting on clustered marble shafts.

On the left (north) side of the chancel is the organ chamber which has an arched opening with a polychromatic brick surround and moulded stone inner arch, and houses the 1864 organ from Foster and Andrews of Hull. To the right is the choir vestry door which has jambs with attached columns and a crocketed arch above containing a memorial plaque to the Reverend William White, the founder of the church. On the right (south) of the chancel is the large Lady Chapel, added by Reginald Fowler in 1908, which is screened from the chancel by a large arched opening similar to that of the organ chamber (which it is opposite) and a group of four arched openings with a brick band surround which rest on two slender stone shafts. The Lady Chapel has a parquet floor, and a scissor and collar rafter roof used in a complex quadripartite form in which the rafters are carried at right angles to the main roof line as they approach the window. The apse has a similar arched opening to that of the organ chamber and contains an altar on three steps. Behind this is an elaborate timber reredos with panels embellished with blind tracery and brattishing, and a central section of three crocketed arches with blind tracery and crocketed finials. The windows are deeply recessed behind stone surrounds with moulded arches and jambs carved in the form of columns.

Church furniture

The church furniture was all designed by James Fowler for the opening of the church. The stone font, situated at the north-west end of the nave, rests on an octagonal plinth and base. It has an octagonal bowl with a carved timber lid, supported by an octagonal stem which has engaged black marble shafts with moulded stone capitals and bases as well as a stone band running around the middle. The pulpit, situated at the south-east end of the nave, is in a similar style and materials, consisting of an octagonal drum with engaged shafts, resting on a corbelled plinth. The fitted timber pews in the nave and aisles have boarded backs and plain ends. The timber choir stalls, relocated from the chancel to the east end of the north aisle, have backs pierced with pointed arches, a moulded top rail, and shaped ends with engaged shafts embellished with carved foliage.

Subsidiary features

To the west of the church, on the east side of Church Street, is a high red brick wall with stone capping and intermittent piers with pyramid stone caps. At the north end are decorative wrought iron gates between square gate piers which have moulded stone pyramid finials with chamfered angles and a band of continuous triangles at the base.